Expedition 16

Expedition 16
Promotional Poster
Mission typeLong-duration expedition
Mission duration192 days (launch to landing)
Expedition
Space stationInternational Space Station
Began10 October 2007 (2007-10-10)
Ended19 April 2008, 10:30 (2008-04-19UTC10:31Z) UTC
Arrived aboardSoyuz TMA-11
Anderson: STS-117
Space Shuttle Atlantis
Tani: STS-120[1]
Space Shuttle Discovery
Eyharts: STS-122
Space Shuttle Atlantis
Reisman: STS-123
Space Shuttle Endeavour
Departed aboardSoyuz TMA-11
Anderson: STS-120[1]
Space Shuttle Discovery
Tani: STS-122
Space Shuttle Atlantis
Eyharts: STS-123
Space Shuttle Endeavour
Reisman: STS-124
Space Shuttle Discovery
Crew
Crew size3
MembersPeggy Whitson
Yuri Malenchenko
Clayton Anderson* (October)
Daniel Tani (October–February)
Léopold Eyharts (February–March)
Garrett Reisman† (March–April)
* - transferred from Expedition 15
† - transferred to Expedition 17
EVAs5
EVA duration35 hours, 21 minutes

Expedition 16 mission patch

The official Expedition 16 crew portrait. (left to right) Anderson, Malenchenko, Tani, Eyharts, Whitson, Reisman

Expedition 16 was the 16th expedition to the International Space Station (ISS). The first two crew members, Yuri Malenchenko and Peggy Whitson, launched on 10 October 2007, aboard Soyuz TMA-11, and were joined by spaceflight participant Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, the first Malaysian in space.[2][3]

Expedition 15 Flight Engineer Clayton Anderson did not land with the Soyuz TMA-10, so he was considered part of Expedition 16 for the few weeks prior to the arrival of STS-120.[4] STS-120 launched on 23 October, docked on 25 October, and replaced Anderson with new Flight Engineer Daniel Tani.[1][5][6] Following docking, the Soyuz seat liners for Anderson and Tani were swapped, and Anderson became part of the STS-120 crew. Léopold Eyharts, who came aboard during STS-122, joined the mission on 9 February 2008, replacing Tani.[2][7] The crew was then joined by Garrett Reisman, who was launched aboard Endeavour with STS-123, on 11 March 2008, replacing Eyharts. Reisman joined Expedition 16 in progress, and was a part of Expedition 17 as well. Upon reentry, the astronaut's Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft suffered a minor malfunction, causing the craft to follow a very steep ballistic descent. As a result, the crew experienced forces up to 10 G, ending up about 260 miles (418 km) west of the targeted landing site. Roscosmos reported all three crew members were doing just fine and in good health.[8]

  1. ^ a b c NASA (2007). "STS-120". National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved 9 October 2007.
  2. ^ a b NASA (2007). "NASA Announces Three International Space Station Crews". NASA. Archived from the original on 26 May 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2007.
  3. ^ SpaceDaily (2007). "Expedition 16 Crew To Launch From Baikonur". Space Travel Exploration and Tourism - SpaceDaily. Retrieved 9 October 2007.
  4. ^ Tariq Malik (2007). "Space Station Astronauts Prepare for Crew Swap". Space.com. Retrieved 9 October 2007.
  5. ^ William Harwood (2007). "Discovery docks with space station". CBS News. Retrieved 25 October 2007.
  6. ^ UPI (2007). "Discovery successfully docks at the ISS". United Press International. Retrieved 25 October 2007.
  7. ^ Spacefacts (2007). "Expedition 16". Spacefacts. Retrieved 9 October 2007.
  8. ^ "Soyuz crew endures severe G-forces on re-entry - CNN.com". CNN. 19 April 2008. Retrieved 2 May 2010.